Chelsea Harvey covers climate science for Climatewire. She tracks the big questions being asked by researchers and explains what's known, and what needs to be, about global temperatures. Chelsea began writing about climate science in 2014. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Popular Science, Men's Journal and others.
Human emissions of greenhouse gases are driving rapid warming all over the globe — particularly in the Arctic, where temperatures are rising at about twice the global rate. But there's another form of carbon in the atmosphere that may also be playing a role.
A summer expedition to Antarctica's McMurdo Ice Shelf documented an alarming phenomenon: The massive sheet flexed downward as ice turned to lakes. That can trigger the whole thing to collapse, raising sea levels.
If global greenhouse gas emissions don't decline soon, the climate in Washington, D.C., could more closely resemble that of today's Greenwood, Miss. Summers may be slightly drier and more than 6 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than they are today.
As the Arctic warms up and the landscape thaws and shifts, scientists have zeroed in on a potentially potent source of greenhouse gases: lakes and other bodies of water.
There's nothing like a wave of wacky weather to spark discussions about climate change.